1. Field
Apparatuses and methods consistent with exemplary embodiments relate to a white balance correcting apparatus and a white balance correcting method.
2. Description of the Related Art
White balance correction refers to a color correction function that detects white having the greatest change in an object color due to a light source in an environment corresponding to input image data (that is, the environment which is captured in an image), determines a color temperature from a Red/Green/Blue (RGB) contrast ratio of the detected white, corrects red (R) and blue (B) based on the color temperature with reference to the detected white, and shifts an entire color sense to adjust color balance.
A general white balance correction algorithm is designed to mainly operate with monochromatic light, without considering a condition in which an image is captured in a complex light environment. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a white balance correction result under complex light according to the related art. Referring to FIG. 1, in a complex light condition in which a high color temperature light source and a low color temperature light source are included on the left and right sides of an image, respectively, a B gain is determined to be large because a white balance correction mainly operates with the low color temperature light source. Accordingly, the left side of the image illuminated by the high color temperature light source is strongly tinged with B.
Therefore, when a white balance correction is performed in a complex light condition, color may be distorted because the white balance correction is not performed or is concentrated on a specific light source, resulting in image quality degradation.